Asset Servicing Team Leader

We are now recruiting an Asset Servicing Team Leader to lead the Corporate Actions Processing team. The team is well established and continues to develop as a high performing function, delivering strong customer outcomes through robust control, increasing automation and a focus on developing its people. We are seeking a Team Leader to continue that progression and support the next phase of the departments growth.

The Team Leader is responsible for leading, coaching and developing the team to deliver accurate, timely and regulatory compliant processing of all corporate action events. The role is to ensure that service levels are consistently achieved, operational risk is effectively managed, and a robust control environment is maintained and evidenced. Your key responsibilities:
Take ownership of the accurate and timely processing of all mandatory, voluntary and mandatory-with-options events, ensuring entitlements are calculated correctly, elections are instructed within market deadline, and customers are notified and paid correctly. Act as the final technical referral point for the team, providing oversight and sign off on complex events, high value elections, and events where market practice or terms are unclear.

Lead, coach and develop a high performing team in a regulated, high risk, deadline driven environment, clearly communicating company, departmental and operational goals and leading by example on standards and values. Continuously assess, maintain and improve the capability, competence and technical proficiency of the team through one-to-ones, performance reviews, the skill matrix, KPIs and structured development plans. Own and develop training for new and existing team members, and assist with recruitment and onboarding into the team.

Plan and allocate resource to meet daily custodian and international market cut-offs, using cross-training and succession planning to remove single points of failure. Manage intraday queues and workload allocation, prioritising time critical events and moving capacity as deadlines demand. Ensure timely handling of internal and external queries, including secure messages, telephone calls, emails, escalations and complaint investigations, with a focus on customer-centred resolution.

Maintain the first line of risk defence, ensuring risk events, near misses and process weaknesses are identified and logged promptly, root causes established, and corrective actions completed to deadline. Maintain the first line of compliance defence, ensuring adherence to processes designed to meet FCA and internal standards, with specific focus on CASS, Consumer Duty, and tax reporting obligations on corporate action events.

Ensure the team's controls are performed as designed and evidenced appropriately, applying effective independent challenge when reviewing and authorising the team's work, and maintaining accurate and current procedure documentation. Produce, interpret and present MI on volumes, complexity, SLA/OPI performance, errors and ageing items, using data to inform decisions and drive improvement rather than to restate activity. Keep the Asset Servicing Manager fully informed of team performance, risk exposure, resourcing challenges and the team's readiness to respond to operational, regulatory or market driven change.

Build and maintain relationships across AJ Bell and with custodians, depositaries, registrars and agents, to support delivery for the department. Act as part of the Asset Servicing leadership group, shaping and implementing short and long term continuous improvement, including opportunities to reduce manual workflow through automation and system enhancement. Support system testing and process change, ensuring procedures and documentation remain aligned with regulatory and audit expectations.

Deputise for the Asset Servicing Manager as required. Competence, knowledge and skills:
Demonstrable experience in financial services within an asset servicing, corporate actions or custody operations role, in a regulated, high risk, deadline driven environment typically four or more years. Proven leadership capability, with experience of developing high performing teams and individuals in a high risk operational environment, and of improving performance through coaching, feedback, KPIs, quality frameworks and structured development. Detailed understanding of corporate action event types, market infrastructure, settlement processes and taxation, including entitlement calculation, election management, key event dates and the consequences of missed or inaccurate processing.

Working knowledge of UK and international market practice, including CREST, and the impact of custody chains Strong understanding of FCA regulatory requirements as they apply to asset servicing, including CASS, Consumer Duty and tax reporting obligations.

Experience of operating and evidencing controls, with a proven ability to identify root causes, implement corrective action and embed improvement in…